Down on the Farm

It's time for some farm fun with Funny Farm! 

Tresa McConachie turned this playful collection into a cozy quilt, 

featured in Quilt Almanac 2013.

"Down on the Farm" by Tresa McConachie

Q. What attracted you to the Funny Farm prints?

Tresa: I chose to work with this fabric before ever seeing it in person. I live in the country with a three-story 1920 barn. How perfect! I have always wanted to design a quilt with a barn in it. But I must say when I saw it for first time I was so happy to see that the colors were rich and the images not too literal or too "cartoonish." It was just right.

Q. How did you come up with the design idea for the quilt?

Tresa: I first started out looking at the repeat and felt I didn't want all the blocks with pieces too small to appreciate how the characters interact on the fabric.  A more simple design would focus on showing off the fabric. The fence fabric had to go in the sashing and outer border. It has such a great grain that would frame each block and the whole top as well.

Q. Tell us about the paper pieced barn block. 

Tresa: I love designing paper piecing and many of my other patterns are done this way. First I drew the image using only straight lines, then using the Electric Quilt printing feature I broke up the image into block segments. When creating a paper pieced block, no line can intersect in the middle of another line. It may take many sections to make one block as in this pattern. I love this method because it is always consistent and can be done quite fast using a chain sewing method.

Q. Why did you use large blocks of the tossed animals?

Tresa:. Alternating the blocks was the only way to break up the large one-piece fabric blocks and keep the barn block from being all you see. I felt this was the best look to accomplish this so you could see enough of each of the individual fabrics. They are all so cute!

Q. Do you have a  favorite print in the collection?

Tresa: My favorite print... pigs.  They just make me smile every time I look at them.

Q. What was your favorite thing about making this quilt?

Tresa: Constructing the barn block and fussy cutting the animals into the doors and top loft area. It was fun capturing each little expression.

Q. Tell us about the machine quilting.

Tresa: The machine quilting was an allover "comb" design. An homage to the chickens. It was done with clear mat finished thread on top to blend well and not draw attention.

To see more of Tresa's work, click here.

To see the entire Funny Farm collection, click here.

To see another Funny Farm quilt designed by Tresa, click here.

To find Quilt Almanac, click here.

Are You a Fashionista?

http://www.totalbeauty.com/content/gallery/best-lipsticks

http://www.aliexpress.com\

How many pairs of shoes are in your closet? 

*Add 2 points for each pair of heels.

*Add 3 points for each pair of heels that is 3"+ high.

How about lipstick? Do you have a go-to favorite, or a drawer full of hues?

If shoes, make-up and style are your thing, you're going to love Fashionista, Ro Gregg's latest line. 

Pure drama in red, black and white 

 Lipstick, a girl's best friend.

 Or is it shoes, a girl's best friend? (Okay, we know it's diamonds, but shoes are a close second!)

Paired with four Marblehead blenders, these prints would be perfect for a cosmetic bag, a clutch to go with a LBD (little black dress), or even a shoe bag.

Stitch up this stunning red, black and white wall hanging by Barb Sackel. 

Click here to download this free pattern.

Holiday Block Challenge Winner!

Today we're sharing the winner of the Holiday Block Challenge!

It's this block, made by Kristen King.

Kristen used Heidi's pieced Christmas Tree block with some bright children's prints. We loved seeing how this block looked in non-holiday fabrics! She chose two prints from the Two by Two collection and accented them with two dotted prints from the Graphix collection.

We asked Kristen a few questions about her block. Here's what she had to say:

Q. How did you decide what fabrics to use?

Kristen: I had gone online to pick out some fabrics for the challenge, but time got away from me and the deadline was approaching. I ran to my local quilt store and had 15 minutes to find fabrics before they closed. I love anything Noah's Ark, and the dot fabrics were just fun. I took home a bunch of fat quarters and started playing.

Q. Did you know which prints you wanted to put in the different block areas?

Kristen: I knew I wanted to use the orange in the points. I love how the orange makes the octopus in the middle print stand out. I loved the animal print and wanted it to be the large square in the center.

Q. Tell us a bit about yourself.

Kristen: I've been quilting for almost 25 years. I took a sewing class when I was young and started making quilts for other people—I gave them all away. Finally I decided I needed to start making some for me, as well! Last year I made a block a day from a ''365 Quilt Blocks a Year'' calendar and blogged about it. I loved it! It was kind of a challenge, and now I have a 2-1/2-foot tall pile of blocks that it's time to design some quilts to make from them.

Kristen's pile of 366 blocks, made one a day during 2012

(You can find Kristen's blog here.)

Congratulations, Kristen! Your prize is in the mail. 

Thanks to everyone who entered blocks in our Holiday Challenge!

Marblehead Block Winner!

 Back at Quilt Market in October, we handed out packs of twenty-six 3'' Marblehead squares to people waiting in line at Sample Spree. The challenge: stitch a 12'' block from these fun, bright squares and send it us. 

We selected the winning block below, a nine-patch of tiny kaleidoscope units with two borders (keep in mind the entire block is only 12" square!). This vibrant, detailed block was definitely a winner in our eyes. Designer Bonnie Moates received a Marblehead Global Brights fat quarter pack. 

Congratulations, Bonnie!

A chemical engineer by day, Bonnie also quilts, sews, embroiders, makes bags, sews costumes, and owns a quilting retreat. She estimates that she's made about 460 quilts in the last 12 years. Her friend, who owns the Red Stick Quilt Shop in Baton Rouge, LA, brought back the Marblehead swatches for Bonnie to play with. And play she did. Bonnie was also kind enough to share a bit about her block with our blog.

Q. Where did you come up with the design idea?

Bonnie: I had really been wanting to do a kaleidoscope. I'd even printed out a couple pictures and bought a book or two. I kept looking at all those colors (the 3'' squares), and that's where the kaleidoscope idea came in. It's something that'll use a lot of colors and have a lot of pieces.

Q. How did you choose what other fabrics to use in the block?

Bonnie: Many of the swatches read as ''medium''—all the same value. As quilters, we know that you need a light, dark and medium to make your quilt pop. By bringing in black as a secondary color, I'd be able to set off the colors. I wanted to bring in a little more color, and I had a batik that looked really good with all of the Marblehead colors.

Q. How did you decide on color placement?

Bonnie: I wanted to use every fabric swatch I was given. I think I got two kaleidoscope pieces out of each square. I tried to break out of the box and not put the colors in rainbow order. It put me out of my comfort zone!

Thanks for sharing, Bonnie! After admiring your block, we can't wait to see what you make with the Global Brights fat quarters!

Friends of Fabri-Quilt Gallery

Wouldn't baking cookies be three times as fun with these adorable kitchen helpers? 

Fabri-Quilt friend Judy Glover bought one Cook's Helper apron panel when Judy Hansen spoke at the Racing Fingers Quilt Guild in Ormond Beach, FL, this past fall. (The Guild's name comes from the group's proximity to the Daytona Speedway!)
A self-described "baby quilter" who has been quilting for just a few years, Judy then decided she needed to make aprons for two friends' little girls, in addition to her own granddaughter. So she bought two more panels. One of Judy's quilting friends recommended that she line the aprons, so she did. She gave the girls the aprons for Christmas.
Pictured are Judy's granddaughter Mia (in the middle) and her two little friends, Hayden and Ava. It looks like all three girls are aspiring cooks and hopefully sewers as well!
Judy says that now all of her friends with granddaughters are asking her to make aprons for them. She's willing to show them how, but will leave the sewing to them!

Have you made a project using Fabri-Quilt fabric? Send a photo and your contact information to fabriquiltblog (at) gmail.com and we may feature you on the blog!

The Neon Trend: Nite Lites

Did the title of this post give you a quick flashback to the 80s? 
Big hair, layers of blue eye shadow, and clothes in day-glo colors?

Image: http://www.amazon.com/Womens-Love-The-80s-Shirt/dp/B0041EOTJO/ref=pd_sbs_a_1

Well, we're here to tell you that neon is making a run again! That's right, we're not just a fabric-loving blog, we're also up on what's new and hot in the world of style. Don't believe us? Take the word of Andrea, the former fashion industry professional turned style blogger over at For the Love of...
She first blogged about Neon Week last spring, followed up with a post called Real Women Wear Neon Too, and has been incorporating neon into her holiday decor (think pumpkins with neon accents on the Thanksgiving table, a white and "brite" nursery for her youngest son, and neon Christmas decor) ever since. 

If you've seen Ro Gregg's Marblehead Global Brights, you know that we are fans of the neon trend as well. If you haven't seen these vibrant fabrics yet, here you go:

Paired with a rich black background, these bright beauties really sparkle in the "Nite Lites" quilt, designed by Terry Albers and featured in the February-March 2013 issue of McCall's Quick Quilts magazine.

"Nite Lites" by Terry Albers

Terry talked about her latest quilt design with us.

Q. How did you come up with the design idea? And why did you choose black as the background?

Terry: This quilt began in a play session. Irene [a quilter friend] and I were laying out blocks on her design wall. She had a project going that we thought might be too busy. When I suggested the alternate blocks, we tried it with black to make the bright colors pop. It wasn't until I added the cornerstones that the sparkle happened.

Q. Where did the name for the quilt come from?

Terry: I had seen footage from a night dive where the sea lights up with bio-luminescence (creatures that create their own light in the deep) and chose ''Nite Lites'' for the name of the new quilt.

Q. How did you choose what brights to use?

Terry: Ro Gregg's line, Marblehead Global Brights, contains all the luminescent colors I was looking for. Each piece has so much depth of color that they really do sparkle against the black.

Q. How did you come up the idea for the machine quilting?

Terry: I planned the quilting into the negative space as I was designing. I knew I wanted a swirly effect using the variegated threads to echo the colors and increase the watery feel. Sandy knew just how to get the look I wanted.

Q. What are your plans for this quilt?

Terry: This quilt doesn't have its forever home yet but I'm dreaming up some new color combinations...all with lots of movement in the negative space. Maybe it will be a springboard into a new design for Ro Gregg's upcoming "Pleasing Pastels!"

Click here to learn more about designer Terry Albers of Hedgehog Quilts.
Click here to purchase a kit for this project.
Click here to download the pattern for a wall size version of Terry's quilt. (The quilt patterned in the magazine is lap size.)
Click here to find the February/March issue of McCall's Quick Quilts.

Hello, 2013!

How did you spend your New Year's Eve? Did you get together with friends or family? Go out? Stay home and sew?

Did you stay up until midnight to officially ring in the new year?

Here's to a new year filled with inspiration, fun, and fabric!

We wish you a happy and healthy 2013!